SAUNA CEREMONY & POWERS OF NATURE

This is an exclusive possibility to learn more in a small group of max 8 persons in the amazing wilderness destination of Kotakylä in Juuka. On Sunday we have kayaks and canoes on our disposal to connect with the local waters.
With Lithuanian sauna maestra Justina Kuckailiene Malauskaite and with local shamanic teacher Helena Karhu.

The Sauna has its very old tradition in many ancient cultures and purpose for a human being to be strengthened, renewed, or healed from within. The Steam room becomes a sacred space where one could restore the physical and spiritual well-being, dive deeper into goodness of body and Earth, knowledge, and inner wisdom. It is far more different than anything else. In Sauna we create a very special space for cosmic Water and cosmic Fire to dance the Cosmic dance, where relation with spirit and divine can be nurtured in each of us.
How can we create a Sauna ceremony by using Nature elements and applying them in Sauna? Is it important just to know the instruments and equipments? I trust that always first we start with connecting to the Land where we plan to hold the ceremony observing what is given around us. What kind of plants grow there, what stories of stones have been told in valleys, what energies of waters flow around? Everything is deeply connected and unfold in us our personal relations to the outside and the way we mirror these connections in our inside.
In the Sauna we have a straightforward contact with Powers of Nature, its various elements among seen and unseen worlds. We fulfil ourselves with energies of Sun, as well as exploring our own bodies flow and state of being. Simple observation and letting yourself be and melt into the flow of steam, plants, waters, sounds, etc. let yourself cleanse and re-birth again in the moment now.
The sacred space of Sauna is the place for gentle transformation. So how do we understand and create this space, what elements are important? May we explore and learn to create the Ceremony together and echo the divine process of Creation within the togetherness!

Our program:
Friday:
Arrivals. You can arrive anytime in between 15.00-18.00.
18.00 Shared fire, shared circle. Drum invocation for our weekend together.
Sauna, swimming, relaxing

Saturday:
Morning / meditation and connecting to the Land we stay (Helena) (1 hour)
Before lunch / walk in the forest or surrounding and learning to connect to certain plants, mostly trees. Picking branches of trees and other plants for Sauna ceremony to be used and integrated. (walk Helena, explanations for Sauna Justina) (2-3 hours)
Lunch
After lunch / talk about the Nature powers and elements that will be used in Sauna (e.g. salt), preparing vastas’. Talk about the culture and potential of Sauna in healing. (Justina, Helena to add) (2-3 hours)
Dinner (light meal)
Preparation for Sauna, getting ready all elements that were gathered during the day. (1 hour) (Justina)
Sauna ceremony (4-5 hours) (Justina)
Reflections of the Ceremony, snacks after Sauna (Helena and Justina)

Sunday:
Morning relaxation. Optional shared circle with reflections of the ceremony, morning meditation, and swimming on the lake. Possibility to canoe or kayak on the lake.

Course destination:
Kotakylä is located at Juuka, Finland. Kotakylä is like its own secret world on the shore of a wilderness lake Vaikkojärvi, separated from the hustle and stress of modern times. In Kotakylä you can return to your roots and be in direct contact with nature. Accommodation is at teepee or you can bring your own tent.
Kotakylä has a wonderful wooden hand-carved sauna world with five different saunas, e.g. special Muasauna and smoke sauna. There are different hut options for accommodation in Kotakylä. In Kotakylä, you can use e.g. kayaks, canoes and sup-boards.
Address: Kotakyläntie 197, 83900 Juuka, Finland
Note! When you put the address in the navigator, please check that the destination is in Juua and on the shore of Vaikkojärvi.
Read more: https://www.kotaloma.com/en/
How to get there?
You can take train or fly to Joensuu, Finland. The flight from Helsinki is about 50 min and the train is about 4,5 hrs.
Flights: www.finnair.com
Trains: www.vr.fi
We will help to coordinate the car transfers between Joensuu and the course destination. The car transfer is about 90 min.

Is the retreat suitable for me?
No special knowledge or experience is required for the retreat. The course is
alcohol-free.

We will work in a small group of max. 8 participants.

About course guides:

Justina:

Justina is a psychologist and bodyworker in massage therapy where she applies various techniques in working with human physical, emotional and spiritual body. She is a practitioner of MA-URI®️ Healing Arts originating from Polynesia. Many years Justina is interested in indigenous cultures and practices, cares about Baltic heritage and wisdom. Sauna tradition is one of most loved ways for her to nurture and heal the human body and soul, so several years ago she learnt and got initiated to create and share Sauna ceremony principles, how we can apply Nature powers in Sauna. Most of her free time she spends in wild Nature and explores the wisdom of Earth.

Justina has falled in love with the Northern nature, and she has been travelling in far North, but this will be her first time visiting us in North Karelia.

„Sauna Ceremony with Justina on the shores of Munajärvi Lake in Lapland has been one of my most beautiful experiences of my life. I felt the deep connection and understanding Justina has with the spirits of the trees and their healing qualities. Even tough I have been in sauna countless times through my whole life, I have never before experienced such richness of quantity of the healing tree spirits and the different ways one can use tree in sauna. The way Justina was using the branches on me at the sauna, was healing arts in its best. I am so excited to be with her and with all of you joining this circle by Lake Vaikkojärvi in Juuka, North Karelia!“ Helena

Helena Karhu:
I am a local North-Karelian shamanic teacher, culture producer, and researcher. My ancestors are all from this region, and the first journey in my life was a pilgrimage around the sacred lake Pielinen as a 7 months old baby. Today, the soul task of my life is within Karhun Talo (House of Bear), which aims to help us to remember our deep connection with nature, as the source of awareness, wellbeing, and connectedness. I wish to understand, remember, and develop folk cultures and wisdom traditions together with all of you. I am a chairwoman of a local culture association called Pielisen Tietäjäkeskus ry., which aims to promote, strengthen, and live the ancestral wisdom traditions of North Karelia. I have about 15 years of experience of meditation and mindfulness practices, and I have guided meditation for groups for about 10 years. My fulltime spiritual journey started in November 2015, and started soon as an entrepreneur with my own company of magic, arts, and wellbeing.
I have vast international experience, as my international career took me to live over 13 years in Copenhagen, Denmark. My world journeys have taken her across the Northern and Arctic regions in quest for meaning of life. I have lived for short periods in Greenland and in Fairbanks, Alaska. Before this, I have lived also in Spain and Lithuania. My passion is to bring forth the light-increasing, co-operative, and empowering aspects of the ancestral practice, where everyone can rest as they are, yet have freedom to become who they are. As a retreat guide, my ambition is to be of inspiring and positive guidance, where simplicity and naturalness of life are the key focus.

How to sign-up?

You can sign up for the retreat by sending e-mail to: info@karhuntalo.com

The participation cost is 245 EUR per person including the retreat program Friday-Sunday and 24% ALV. In addition to this, the accommodation in teepee and access to the sauna world incl. smoke sauna is 105 EUR / person.

Everyones takes care of their own meals during the weekend. There is an open outdoor kitchen for preparing and storing food. More information about these details in the letter of participation. There is possibility for us to book also breakfast, lunch, and dinner by Kotakylä, but we can decide on this together with the group.

The course fee does not include travel costs to the retreat center and back, nor travel insurance. All the participants are required to read and understand the terms of reservation and cancellation prior of registering: https://www.karhuntalo.com/booking-and-cancellation-conditions

Please notice, that for this course there is special cancellation conditions, as we have a small group and a teacher from abroad. The registration is binding so that in case of cancellation, the participation fee is not returned. Thank you for your understanding!
Have beautiful summer time coming up!

Helena Karhu:
I am a local North-Karelian shamanic teacher, culture producer, and researcher. My ancestors are all from this region, and the first journey in my life was a pilgrimage around the sacred lake Pielinen as a 7 months old baby. Today, the soul task of my life is within Karhun Talo (House of Bear), which aims to help us to remember our deep connection with nature, as the source of awareness, wellbeing, and connectedness. I wish to understand, remember, and develop folk cultures and wisdom traditions together with all of you. I am a chairwoman of a local culture association called Pielisen Tietäjäkeskus ry., which aims to promote, strengthen, and live the ancestral wisdom traditions of North Karelia. I have about 15 years of experience of meditation and mindfulness practices, and I have guided meditation for groups for about 10 years. My fulltime spiritual journey started in November 2015, and started soon as an entrepreneur with my own company of magic, arts, and wellbeing.
I have vast international experience, as my international career took me to live over 13 years in Copenhagen, Denmark. My world journeys have taken her across the Northern and Arctic regions in quest for meaning of life. I have lived for short periods in Greenland and in Fairbanks, Alaska. Before this, I have lived also in Spain and Lithuania. My passion is to bring forth the light-increasing, co-operative, and empowering aspects of the ancestral practice, where everyone can rest as they are, yet have freedom to become who they are. As a retreat guide, my ambition is to be of inspiring and positive guidance, where simplicity and naturalness of life are the key focus.


Johanna Hurme:

At a young age, I was drowned in the world of dance through music, which took me on journeys from warehouses and clubs to another in the late 1990s. I started taking dance lessons as an adult, more than fifteen years ago. I fell in love with the social culture and community spirit behind the danceculture, as well as the self-expression that comes through the dance. Over the years, I became more interested in the rhythm of the drums and focused on house dance, Tanzanian traditional dance, Japanese Butoh dance and also Finnish Folkdance.

However, there was always restlessness and incomprehension about the feelings that came from moving and finding my own roots. I longed for a deeper understanding and knowledge of my attachment to dance. Through the studies of dance and movement therapy and dance pedagogy, I got to know authentic movement and many different methods that deepened the form of free expression while dancing and I returned to the world I had learned while dancing in warehouses. I developed the My Body in the Circle -concept as a final project in dance and movement therapy. Through my phytotherapy studies, I have combined different senses and an exploration of nature with the help of plants, along with dance and movement. Utilizing these methods and teachings, I aim to give people the skills to express and present their own movement language and to find their own connection with nature.

No special knowledge or experience is required for the retreat. The course is
alcohol-free. The place requires normal mobility.